BBC America is a digital cable and satellite television network in the
United States which is jointly owned by the BBC Worldwide and AMC Networks.
Unlike the BBC's domestic channels in the United Kingdom, BBC America does not
receive funding from the UK licence fee, as the BBC cannot fund any of its
channels that are not available in the United Kingdom. Consequently, BBC
America operates as an advertiser-supported channel and accepts
traditional advertising. It is also funded by cable and satellite TV licence
fees. As of February 2015, BBC America is
available to approximately 78,375,000 television households in the United
States. History
BBC America was launched on March 29, 1998, presenting a mixture of comedy,
drama and lifestyle programs from BBC Television and other British television
broadcasters including ITV and Channel 4. In the channel's early days, it
focused on repeats of popular lifestyle shows such as Changing Rooms and Ground
Force. BBC America's head of television programming later stated that it was
important for the channel to establish a niche since non-UK viewers found the
lifestyle shows appealing. Most of the newer programs appeared as part of BBC
America's evening schedule. The network removed the popular British
soap opera EastEnders from its schedule in 2003 due to low ratings; however the
program's removal from BBC America provoked complaints from viewers, which
caught media attention. After CEO Paul Lee was appointed
president of ABC Family in 2009, the network appointed Bill Hilary from
Comedy Central to serve as its chief executive officer. Hilary appointed
Kathryn Mitchell to the new position of general manager. Under Hilary's tenure,
BBC America was restructured; it moved its main offices to New York City and
had its programming budget increase substantially. The channel was led by
Garth Ancier, who served as the president of BBC Worldwide Americas from
February 2007 until 2010, when he was succeeded by former MTV Networks
executive Herb Scannell. Meanwhile, Perry Simon serves as general manager.
Programming = Current=
Cash in the Attic Doctor Who
The Graham Norton Show Kitchen Nightmares
Man vs. Wild Orphan Black
Planet Earth Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares
Star Trek: The Next Generation Top Gear
Some of the programs on the channel are edited either for adult content or to
allow for commercials. Occasionally comedy shows are run in specially
formatted 40-minute blocks and a few first-run drama programs are broadcast
in a longer block that allows them to run to their original broadcast length.
Additional series which have been previously broadcast may periodically
return to the schedule as part of the network's rotation of daytime
programming. = Original programming and
co-productions= In the mid-2000s, BBC America produced a
few of its own shows along with some joint productions. These have included
Sharpe's Challenge, part of the Sharpe series of made-for-television movies and
co-produced with ITV; as well as The State Within and Jekyll, which were
co-productions with the BBC. The first original series produced solely by the
channel was Copper, which premiered in the summer of 2012.
BBC America has also branched into co-producing British series, including
Robin Hood, The Musketeers, and, from its fourth series, the revival of Doctor
Who. They also co-produce the Canadian series Orphan Black.
= Newscasts= BBC America used to broadcast BBC World
News each Monday through Friday morning from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. Eastern and
Pacific Time. All news programs now air on BBC World News also distributed by
AMC Networks. The weekday morning simulcast used to
include BBC World News bulletins, World Business Report, Sport Today, Asia
Today, and a one-hour bulletin called World News Today. Most of these were
removed from the schedule without any announcement on April 6, 2009. The
weekend morning simulcast was also abruptly dropped on April 4, 2009.
According to BBC America, the simulcast was dropped because of disappointing
ratings. From 2007 to 2011, BBC America broadcast
BBC World News America, a live Washington, D.C.–based program anchored
by Matt Frei. Katty Kay served as a Washington-based correspondent. On
February 18, 2011, network management announced that BBC World News America
would be dropped from BBC America and would instead be broadcasting only on
BBC World News and PBS member stations in the United States.
The network was in discussions to unveil a weekly news program fronted by
Newsnight host Jeremy Paxman, who was to introduce a synopsis of Newsnight items
with an international aspect and was expected to bring his brash interviewing
style to bear on American politicians. An international edition of Newsnight
debuted on February 29, 2008, in the 10 p.m. time slot. This program was
canceled in November 2008, but the announcement of the program's
cancellation was not made until April 2009.
During major breaking news events, the network will sometimes replace scheduled
programs with coverage from BBC World News; the London bombings in July 2005
was one example. BBC World News itself is not currently widely available in the
US as a separate channel or in a 30-minute telecast on public television
stations daily. International
BBC America is available in Bermuda on both Bermuda CableVision's digital cable
service, and the WOW service, as well as in Barbados on Multi-Choice TV's
wireless service, on Weststar TV in the Cayman Islands, Grenada on Flow Digital
Cable, and on SXM Cable & Data in Sint Maarten. It is also available in the US
territory of Guam on MCV Broadband and GTA Teleguam's IPTV service,.
See also References
External links Official website